Persecuted and Forgotten? 2024 edition
A report of Christians Persecution and Oppression in the World 2022 - 2024
Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2022-24 summarises the findings of ACN’s continued research, assessing recent patterns of violence and persecution.
Even before the period under review in this report, evidence was already showing that persecution and oppression were getting worse.
In 60 percent of countries surveyed, human rights violations against Christians had increased since the last Persecuted and Forgotten? report
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Religious minorities weren’t even mentioned in the 10-year strategy for international development, which set priorities for UK aid – and yet religious communities suffer all manner of human rights violations as highlighted in our Persecuted and Forgotten? report.
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Persecution around the World |
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In Nigeria there has been a rise in violent attacks on Christians: the Nigerian government failed to intervene effectively. In Burkina Faso and Mozambique, ongoing Islamist insurgencies, specifically targeting Christian communities, have led to thousands of civilians being killed and millions displaced. In Iran, Christian converts are among the most targeted groups in the country. They are perceived as colluding with the West, accused of undermining Iran’s Islamic regime. |
Around the world Christians are finding themselves subject to increased risk of harassment, arrest and violence – churches are burnt, Christian women are abducted and raped, and the faithful are killed for their beliefs.
This edition of Persecuted and Forgotten? examines the challenges facing Christians in 18 countries where the faithful are suffering because of state authoritarianism or attacks from extremists. It covers the period between August 2022 and June 2024.
Persecuted and Forgotten? 2022-24 found that in more than 60 percent of countries surveyed, human rights violations against Christians had increased since the last report. The increase in religiously-motivated harassment against Christians is higher than it has even been, reflecting the findings of other organisations, such the Pew Research Center, which found Christians suffering harassment – which covers everything from verbal abuse to from to murder – in 160 countries.
Children with roses in the destroyed district of Al-Jdaydeh, Aleppo.
For organisations such as Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the need for action to help the persecuted Christians across the world is not just about fundamental human rights, but also one of standing in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Country Profiles
The Persecuted and Forgotten? report 2022-2024 examines the challenges facing Christians in the 18 countries listed below that over which have been of particular interest over the period the report examines.
Asia
Africa
Central America
Persecution around the World
Key findings were…
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- The epicentre of militant Islamist violence shifted from the Middle East to Africa. In parts of Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Mozambique and elsewhere, Christians were terrorised by extreme violence.
- There was intensified targeting of Christians as enemies of the state and/or of the local community, as authoritarian regimes, including those in China, Eritrea, India and Iran, ramped up repressive measures.
- State and non-state actors increasingly weaponised existing and new legislation, criminalising acts deemed disrespectful to the state religion as a means of oppressing Christians and other minority religious groups.
- There were increased threats to Christian children especially girls, who suffered abduction, sexual violence, forced marriage and forced conversion.
The 2022-2024 report also includes the following important findings…
- In Syria, the Christian community was more than 1.5 million before the civil war started in 2011, today Christians could be as few as 250,000.
- In Burkina Faso, more than two million people – about 10 percent of the country’s population – have been displaced because of the ongoing Islamist insurgency.
- The Burmese military stands accused of having destroyed more than 200 places of worship, including 85 churches.
- In China, it is estimated that people imprisoned by the Chinese Communist Party ranges from the low thousands to over 10,000.
- In Eritrea, as of June 2024, around 400 Christians are imprisoned – without trial – just because of their faith.
- In India, 720 attacks or other incidents of persecution against Christians were reported in 2023, up from 599 the year previous.
- In Iran, cases of Christians detained in Iran rose from 59 in 2021 to 166 in 2023.
- In Iraq, the Christian population declined sharply during the brutal regime of Daesh, currently consists of fewer than 200,000 people out of a population of more than 41,000,000; roughly 0.46 percent.
- Nigeria is ranked eighth in the 2024 Global Terrorism Index. Militant Fulani insurgents in the Middle Belt regularly committed massacres and other violent atrocities, with a disproportionate number of attacks against Christians.
- In North Korea, anyone identified as a Christian or even showing interest in Christianity or the Bible will almost certainly be considered an enemy of the state.
- In Pakistan, research found that 2,120 individuals had been accused of blasphemy between 1987 and 2022.
- In Saudi Arabia, converting from Islam to Christianity is strictly prohibited and converts can face honour killings.
